James Watson, President & CEO

James Watson is the CEO and President of CMTC.  He started at CMTC in 1999 as Vice President of Business Development and transitioned to the position of Vice President of Operations in 2001, which he held for the past 10 years until he assumed his role as CEO in 2011. 

Mr. Watson is responsible for crafting the future vision of CMTC, promoting the importance of the manufacturing sector to State and Federal legislators and expanding the awareness of CMTC’s capabilities throughout Southern California. He will also guide CMTC’s Defense Services and Healthcare business units.

With over 30 years of management experience in areas of strategic planning, operations management, organizational design, sales and marketing and cultural alignment, Mr. Watson brings a wide range of knowledge to his position as President and CEO. He started his career with Western Airlines advancing to Vice President Passenger and Cargo Sales and then was Vice President and General Manager of SuperShuttleInternational before moving to Anchor Audio as the Vice President of Sales and General Manager Europe.

Mr. Watson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University, Northridge.

Jack Van Buren, Vice President/Chief Financial Officer

Jack Van Buren was named the Chief Financial Officer of California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC) in December 1996.

Mr. Van Buren brings more than 25 years of financial management experience to CMTC where he is responsible for the financial, administration and human resources departments.

Prior to joining CMTC, Mr. Van Buren was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Datametrics Corp. in Woodland Hills.  At Datametrics, he managed two public offerings as part of the company’s conversion to a commercial manufacturer of high-speed color printers.

Previously, he was Controller of Eastern Corporation’s Measurement and Control Operation in Santa Ana, and before that was Chief Financial Officer for TriCoast Container Corp.

Doug Garnee, Director of Human Resources and Healthcare Division

Doug Garnee is the Director of Human Resources & Administration, Recruitment, and the Healthcare Division of CMTC. Mr. Garnee started with CMTC in 2002 as Director of Human Resources.

With over 40 years of management experience in the areas of Human Resources and Recruitment, Operations Management, Training and Compensation he is a valuable leader for CMTC employees. He is leading CMTC’s newest Healthcare division, focusing on the Healthcare client’s workforce selection and operational needs.

Mr. Garnee started his career in Personnel while serving in the US Army during the Vietnam era. Moving from the military to Southwest Leasing & Rental, Inc. as Manager of Personnel; advancing within his 20 year tenure to the position of Director of Operations & Human Resources. He moved to the consulting firm of Primary Management Services as Vice President, to co-manage the program-level management of the $9B Northridge earthquake recovery project for Los AngelesCounty. Upon completion of this project, he moved to Spherion Outsourcing as National Director of Workforce Selection, building a team of 100+ recruitment specialists and managers to serve the Human Capital needs of Fortune 100 companies.

Mr. Garnee holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture, graduating with honors, from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA.

John Anderson, Director of Industry Consulting Business Unit

John Anderson is Director of the Industry Consulting Business Unit responsible for the strategic direction, goals, day-to-day operations and service development. He also oversees expansion of the energy program and participation in MEP initiatives designed to gain alignment with their Next Generation Strategies.

Mr. Anderson has been working with manufacturers and leading high performance teams at CMTC since 1997. Prior experience includes over a decade as an owner of a distribution company, Environmental Studies with the Department of Defense, participated in building a food ingredient plant from pilot stage to fully operational facility and instituting the cGMP program.

Mr. Anderson holds a Masters Degree in Management from the University of LaVerne and Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

Cheryl Slobodian, Director of Operations Support and Small Business Consulting

Cheryl Slobodian, the Director of Operations Support and Small Business Consulting at CMTC, has been responsible for the Center’s Strategic Partnerships for the last 14 years and managing the Center's Workforce Development Services and Small Manufacturers Advantage® program.

She follows her motto “Partner for Success”! During her professional career, Ms. Slobodian has worked with for-profit and non-profit firms in the manufacturing, telecommunications and publishing sectors developing strategic partnerships and new business services.

Ms. Slobodian holds a Masters Degree in Information Sciences from Catholic University of America (MISLS)., Washington DC and Bachelors in Education from Univ Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS (BS).

If you would like more information on CMTC's Consulting Services, please contact Ellen McKewen at 310-263-3018 or emckewen@cmtc.com.